I remember the first time that I subflexed or disclocated my knee. I
was playing around with my Brother at his house in Eastern Utah. We
were wrestling, or something, and while flipping me over I felt the
most painful sensation I've ever had in my leg, which is saying
something, because I've broken quite a few bones. I was wearing jeans,
so you couldn't see the knee out of place, but I didn't want to ride
in an ambulance that night, so I laid there for the next 20 minutes or
so until it slipped back into place.
Let me tell you, that was painful, but the recovery didn't seem as
long or as hard as this time around. Trying to rush a recovery is like
speeding in a school zone. Why the heck do you think it's a good idea?
My knee will not heal any faster or any healthier if I'm forcing it to
be healthy.
This is the monologue I've been giving myself for the past week. As
much as I want to not be on crutches, I have to be on crutches for a
while. It is what it is.
Even with a bum knee, the work must go on, and the Lord has been
gracious. We were referred this week to a lady who has been studying
about the church for 8 years now. Half of her family are LDS, the
other half is Catholic, and she's somewhere in the middle. But after a
brief conversation she decided that she was all in, and that she
wanted to be a full-fledged member of the church. It was a nice
blessing from heaven, a little nod form the Lord that he appreciates
what Elder M and I are doing. In the past three weeks we've
almost double our investigator pool, and the world is a bright and
happy place. Somehow, in the midst of trial, at the dregs of weight,
there is always a hope that shines brightly before us, and that light
grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
Testimony is a wonderful thing. On the first Sunday of the month we
have the opportunity to hear the testimonies of many believers during
our sacrament meetings. Some people say they share their testimony,
others give one, but it is important to bear a testimony. The word
bear shows how we earn a testimony. When we are bearing something, it
is heavy. There is weight being put upon our shoulders. Being borne
takes a great amount of pressure, and it is not always easy to do.
During the hardest times of our lives, when we have the most to be
borne, that is when a testimony is most crucial. Bearing the testimony
is not only what endures us through bearing a trial, but it is also
the result of the trial. Think after a crucible. In a small instrument
there is a great amount of force and pressure happening, creating a
specific, correct result. Just like in Arthur Miller's play, the
Crucible, after John Proctor's long line of persecution, trail,
betrayal, what is left in him is truth, and right. A testimony is
truth itself, accompanied by a witness of the spirit. It is the result
of the trial of our faith.
Somebody needs our testimony. It is the nature of the gospel that once
we go through our own gethsemane, we are to become the angel that
strengthens in someone else's gethsemane. When Enos knew his sins were
forgiven, he began to work upon the welfare of his brothers, and even
his enemies. The greater feeling of testimony we have, the stronger
desire we will have to act upon it.
Jesus Christ is the testimony. He is a burden. We are yoked upon him.
However, his burden is easy, and his yoke is light. A yoke is not a
traditionally light thing, and a burden is not easy. But it is when we
covenant with Christ, because he has already gone through the olive
press, and has endured the crucible. He is the source of truth and
light. Looking towards the savior brings us a constant witness of
truth.
Elder Richard Hall
was playing around with my Brother at his house in Eastern Utah. We
were wrestling, or something, and while flipping me over I felt the
most painful sensation I've ever had in my leg, which is saying
something, because I've broken quite a few bones. I was wearing jeans,
so you couldn't see the knee out of place, but I didn't want to ride
in an ambulance that night, so I laid there for the next 20 minutes or
so until it slipped back into place.
Let me tell you, that was painful, but the recovery didn't seem as
long or as hard as this time around. Trying to rush a recovery is like
speeding in a school zone. Why the heck do you think it's a good idea?
My knee will not heal any faster or any healthier if I'm forcing it to
be healthy.
This is the monologue I've been giving myself for the past week. As
much as I want to not be on crutches, I have to be on crutches for a
while. It is what it is.
Even with a bum knee, the work must go on, and the Lord has been
gracious. We were referred this week to a lady who has been studying
about the church for 8 years now. Half of her family are LDS, the
other half is Catholic, and she's somewhere in the middle. But after a
brief conversation she decided that she was all in, and that she
wanted to be a full-fledged member of the church. It was a nice
blessing from heaven, a little nod form the Lord that he appreciates
what Elder M and I are doing. In the past three weeks we've
almost double our investigator pool, and the world is a bright and
happy place. Somehow, in the midst of trial, at the dregs of weight,
there is always a hope that shines brightly before us, and that light
grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
Testimony is a wonderful thing. On the first Sunday of the month we
have the opportunity to hear the testimonies of many believers during
our sacrament meetings. Some people say they share their testimony,
others give one, but it is important to bear a testimony. The word
bear shows how we earn a testimony. When we are bearing something, it
is heavy. There is weight being put upon our shoulders. Being borne
takes a great amount of pressure, and it is not always easy to do.
During the hardest times of our lives, when we have the most to be
borne, that is when a testimony is most crucial. Bearing the testimony
is not only what endures us through bearing a trial, but it is also
the result of the trial. Think after a crucible. In a small instrument
there is a great amount of force and pressure happening, creating a
specific, correct result. Just like in Arthur Miller's play, the
Crucible, after John Proctor's long line of persecution, trail,
betrayal, what is left in him is truth, and right. A testimony is
truth itself, accompanied by a witness of the spirit. It is the result
of the trial of our faith.
Somebody needs our testimony. It is the nature of the gospel that once
we go through our own gethsemane, we are to become the angel that
strengthens in someone else's gethsemane. When Enos knew his sins were
forgiven, he began to work upon the welfare of his brothers, and even
his enemies. The greater feeling of testimony we have, the stronger
desire we will have to act upon it.
Jesus Christ is the testimony. He is a burden. We are yoked upon him.
However, his burden is easy, and his yoke is light. A yoke is not a
traditionally light thing, and a burden is not easy. But it is when we
covenant with Christ, because he has already gone through the olive
press, and has endured the crucible. He is the source of truth and
light. Looking towards the savior brings us a constant witness of
truth.
Elder Richard Hall
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